Zeddas Servants of Sheol
Review by Al Giovetti, 09/20/96
Price: $40
Release: February, 1996, Now Discontinued
Genre: Adventure (cinematic)
Developer: Caravan Interactive
Director: Haruhiko Shono
Publisher: Synergy Interactive
Phone: 415-437-2059, 800-734-9466
Website: no website
Requirements: PC or Mac

History: Synergy Interactive, is 100% subsidiary of Synergy Incorporated (Japan) who Gadget, El-Zone, and Alice. Synergy is doing the upgraded version of Gadget in November, 1996. All the graphics will be rerendered in 32,000 colors. Gadget sold well and was a very good game.

Plot: There are three phages where trapped in a medieval castle. The castle is conquered by a demon king named Zeddas. The adventurer has to get out of the castle, by destroying Zeddas and freeing the castle.

Game play: The adventurer must find keys and solve riddles and puzzles, and collect information from inhabitants of the castle and its dungeon. Exploration is first person perspective. More of a puzzle game, I guess.

Interface: You use the cursor to move around and slowly move onto the next area. The game is very slow. Fight by using weapons or magical instruments in real time combat in first person perspective. Cursor pad controlled movement to get you from one place to another, and fight with the mouse. You can grab the weapon by click and drag. Move the mouse to hit the monsters with the weapon. No hot keys in the controls.

Graphics: Very dark and very grainy and in a mat so that the screen is about one fourth of full size at all times during game play. So that the mat and display represent a magical mirror into the world of Zeddas. The ladies and other characters in Zeddas are very campy and unusual. The beautiful ladies may appeal to many, as they do to the Japanese creators of the game. High resolution, three dimensional fully rendered graphics, very different in style than the ultra realistic graphics of Gadget.

Voice actors: Professional SAG actors who have done animation work provide the voices of the characters and denizens of the castle and dungeon. The are fourteen different voices and characters. All characters have a very unique line of dialogue. The witch tells you wicked things about others. The witch is very depressed but is trying to help you get through the magical obsticles.

Music score: Gothic dark and dismal music. The music is more like a movie sound track rather than a game music.

Sound effects: Real sounding stereophonic dark and dismal sounds serve to build suspense, swords clashing, magic ring, which makes a special effect sound track.

Multi-player: Single player game.

Conclusion: Should you really want the game you can buy up the remaining stocks, since the program was recently discontinued. The manufacturers have no plans to continue production after this point. I do not understand what the point is on this game. Better forget it or find someone else who may have understood the game. I could not find one.

References:
T. Liam McDonald, PC Gamer, volume 3, number 7, July, 1996, pg. 86, 58%
Kevin J. McCann, Computer Player, volume 3, number 4, September, 1996, pg. 96, 5/10, (50%).